On-the-go soil and/or vegetation sampling is a continuing goal for the agricultural community to understand the amount of nutrients in the field or in vegetation to then determine the amounts of nutrients to be added at points across the field. Knowing the amount of nutrients needed at the different points allows for more efficient application of the nutrients to supply at least the needed amount and to limit over-application.
There are many systems that sample soil and/or vegetation, but these are mainly bag-and-tag systems that collect samples that are then sent to a lab for analysis. There is a delay in receiving the results as the samples need to be shipped and then tested. It would be desirable to be able to test on the go, and in particular with tests that require the soil or vegetation to be in a solution that is tested with a chemical. These types of chemical tests are generally not instantaneous as it takes time to prepare the sample and time for the chemical to react with nutrients in the soil or vegetation to determine the amount of the nutrient. There is a need for a system that can collect and test many samples while on the go across a field.